What can I say about Windows 8? Windows 8 is probably the best approach to
Cloud computing I have ever seen in a client operating system. Rather than
take a glorified web browser approach like Google’s Chrome OS or a dumbed
down compromised view like Apples iOS Microsoft has balanced its traditional
approach to operating system development with a blend of forward thinking.
PC Syncing is a strong highlight of the new operating system, you see the
immediate benefits when you have multiple PC’s running Windows 8. It has
drastically changed my perception of the operating system since I first
began using it. I have a system perfectly running Windows 7 and I am
seriously considering upgrading it to Windows 8 just to harness the benefits
of PC syncing.

I will also repeat some of what I said from the Windows 8 Release Preview.
My perspective on Windows 8 at this point is, it’s a decent operating
system, especially when used in context. Windows 8 will be excellent on
Tablet and Touch supported devices. There is still a bit of reluctance about
Windows 8 on traditional form factors such as Laptops and Desktop computers.
Yes, the idea going forward is to have these devices in convertible modes
that make using the Start Screen convenient on them. My use of the Start
screen on the couple systems where I have Windows 8 RTM is very limited. It
wasn’t until recently I have been dabbling with it more especially for quick
application launching and it still remains a curiosity than a full time
commitment. Microsoft has made great effort since the Windows 8 Dev Preview
to make it a more enticing value proposition. With Microsoft’s entrance into
the hardware industry with a device like the Surface, my commitment might
change this fall. Right now, it’s still kinda hard justifying the Start
Screen on a desktop computer and like I said before, the Start Screen feels
secondary when being used with a mouse and keyboard. It’s clearly touch
targeted. Apart from this, Windows 8 offers many improvements across the
board in the desktop app especially.

The performance of the operating system remains one of its key improvements
in addition to features like the new File Explorer, built in Hyper-V,
advanced recovery tools, Multiple Monitor Support, make Windows 8 a joy to
use and proves its value even more. It is surprising at this point that
Windows 8 has dropped support for some older systems that might not be the
most powerful, but still capable. Windows 7 runs on these systems just fine,
so I can’t see why Windows 8 should not since they use the same system
requirements. The No Execute Bit requirement is just unnecessary in my
opinion. Is it a recommended upgrade though? If you just bought a new PC
with Windows 7, you probably can hold off on the upgrade for a while and
take the wait and see approach. I am personally staying committed to Windows
7 on some systems where I have it installed, I might consider dual booting
with Windows 7 since I am a technology enthusiast and like to keep up with
the latest. Overall, I would prefer to have Windows 8 on a new PC this fall
instead of upgrading an existing one and one that is Touch ready (preferably
a mobile device). The Surface is looking very enticing and it might actually
be the device that gets Windows 8 into the hands of many.

Eleven months ago, when I started writing about Windows 8, I brought up the
hit and miss scenarios with Windows releases.

This of
course might ring some alarms, because when we look at the history of
Windows successes and perceived failures, it’s a bit fluctuating to be
honest with you. These of course are likely coincidences, but let us take a
look anyway:

It’s a hit, it is clearly Microsoft’s most bold development
in years, it probably beats out the transition from Program Manager (Windows
3X) to Windows 95, the move from Windows 9x to the NT Kernel. The Windows 8
platform represents so many things: truly touch centric, support for modern
processor architectures, fast and fluid as Microsoft puts it and also
represents where the majority of the world is heading when it comes to
computing, entirely mobile.

Systems used for
testing

HP Z210 SFF Workstation

HP XW4600 Workstation

Acer Ferrari 5000

Dell Optiplex 760

Intel XEON 3.2 Ghz

Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5 GHz

AMD Turion 2.0 GHz x2

Intel Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz

8 GBs of DDR3 RAM

2 GBs of DDR2 ECC RAM

4 GBs of DDR2 RAM

1 GB DDR2 RAM

160 GB SSD

250 GB HDD

160 GB HDD

75 GB HDD

Intel 3000 HD Graphics

nVidia Quadro FX 1700 512 MBs of vRAM

ATI Mobility Radeon x1600 256 MBs of vRAM

Windows 8 Pro 64 bit

Windows 8 Pro 64 bit

Windows 8 Pro 64 bit

Windows 8 Pro 32 bit

Pros:

Faster startup time on both mechanical hard disk and SSD Storage,
improvements in performance especially with Hibernation, Sleep.